M E M O R A N D U M


							March 23, 2010


To:		Members of the Board of Trustees

From:	Pedro A. Noguera, Chair, Charter Schools Committee

Subject:	Denial of Application for Charter Renewal of the New Covenant Charter School (Albany)

        I recommend that the Board of Trustees adopt the following resolution:
               
Resolved that the subsequent charter renewal application of New Covenant Charter School (the �School�), located in Albany, be, and hereby is, denied for the reasons set forth in the Charter Schools Institute�s renewal report that was provided to the Board of Trustees (copies on file in the Office of the Vice Chancellor and Secretary of the University and in the Albany office of the Charter Schools Institute); and be it further

Resolved that the Charter Schools Institute, acting for the Board of Trustees, be, and hereby is, directed to take steps necessary and appropriate to close the School, terminate the charter and assist the School and the Board of Regents in the dissolution of the School corporation and/or the revocation of its certificate of incorporation.

Background

        For the charter school listed above, the Charter Schools Institute (the �Institute�) properly notified the school district in which the school is located regarding the receipt of an application for charter renewal.  The Albany City School District provided comments, which were distributed to the Board of Trustees, asking that the school not be renewed.  

        The Board of Trustees is authorized under the Charter Schools Act to renew the charters of schools that it has authorized.  Pursuant to the Practices, Policies and Procedures for the Renewal of Charter Schools Authorized by the State University Board of Trustees (the �SUNY Renewal Practices�) (last amended on September 15, 2009 and on file in the Albany office of the Institute and at:  www.newyorkcharters.org), each school coming to renewal must file a renewal application.  Thereafter, the Institute conducts a renewal site visit, a review of the information in the renewal application as well as other relevant information, such as assessment data, site visit reports, and interviews with school trustees and staff, and produces a renewal report with its findings and recommendations.  The renewal report also contains a comparison of a school�s performance over the term of the prior charter to the renewal benchmarks described in the State University Renewal Practices.  The school receives a copy of the renewal report and is given an opportunity to comment on it before it is finalized.  When the Institute�s preliminary recommendation is non-renewal, the school is provided an opportunity to have Institute staff come to the school to hear a presentation by school leadership, staff, parents and/or the school community at large regarding why the school�s charter should be renewed, which in this case took place on December 22, 2009.  Thereafter, if the Institute�s recommendation to the Charter Schools Committee remains non-renewal, the school may petition the Committee directly, which New Covenant Charter School (the �School�) did on January 15, 2010.  Copies of renewal reports are available in the Albany office of the Institute and at: www.newyorkcharters.org. 

        The School was issued a charter on September 17, 1999.  On September 15, 2004, the School was issued a five-year renewal of its charter with conditions, which expired on September 17, 2009.  On March 24, 2009, the Charter Schools Committee exercised discretion to grant the School a one-year renewal with specific academic, legal and fiscal minimum conditions that deviated from the SUNY Renewal Practices, and stated that only two renewal outcomes were available for the School�s next renewal � non-renewal or full term renewal of five years.  On the same date, the Board of Trustees voted to allow the Charter Schools Committee�s action to go forward.  In the current renewal report, the Institute recommends that the School�s charter not be further renewed because the school did not meet the minimum conditions imposed by the Charter Schools Committee�s March 2009 resolution.  If this resolution is approved, the School will close at the end of the current school year and will not provide summer instruction.
Board Resolution	                                -2-	                     March 23, 2010

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